Russia officially calls for “disbanding” of Jewish Agency operations in the country

Russian authorities have officially requested this Thursday the “dissolution” of the Jewish Agency’s offices in the country, filing an appeal to that effect with the Moscow district court, according to a court spokesman quoted by Russian media.

This represents a major step forward in Russia’s campaign against the Israeli quasi-governmental organization, which facilitates and encourages Jewish immigration to Israel.

Moscow’s action against the organization that oversees immigration to Israel is seen as retaliation for Israel’s stance on the Ukrainian war, while the agency has stated that its activities continue for now.

“The court received a lawsuit filed by the main department of the Ministry of Justice in Moscow requesting the dissolution of the Jewish agency,” the court has explained in a statement that was picked up by the Russian news agency.

Ekaterina Buravtsova, a spokeswoman for the Basmany court in Moscow, has been quoted by Russian agencies as saying that the request was made after legal violations, without providing further details, Interfax news agency has picked up.

“As we have previously stated, we do not make any comments during the course of legal proceedings,” organization has stated, as reported by ‘The Times of Israel’ daily.

In this regard, the Jewish Agency, which is charged with facilitating and encouraging Jewish immigration to Israel, received a letter last month from the Russian authorities in which they made a series of difficult demands — to which the organization had no intention of acceding — and threatened legal consequences if these demands were not met.